Any mainstream American pop tune, Beethoven symphony, or British children’s song shares a common thread: Western harmonies. Why does Western culture center on specific chords? What is the link between memory, harmony, and ear training? Does music improve memory?

Growing up in Western culture, your ear and brain absorbed a specific “musical hierarchy” where the tonic of a scale had more importance than other pitches.[1] For example, in D Major, your ear automatically gravitates towards the pitches D, A, and G, and finds notes like C# dissonant. Even as an infant, you demonstrated a clear preference for specific Western harmonies. [2] Why is this?

Since childhood, the music you listened to impressed upon your long term memory a distinct preference for the tonic (D) and the dominant (A). Musical training affected your perception of music and your ability to recognize pitch. [1] The more musical exposure you experienced, the greater the impact on your brain and memory.

To recognize a pitch during ear training, your brain performs mental gymnastics. Click to read the rest…

Before you put the blame on your lack of singing skills to quitting high school choir, you might want to check out your hearing. Years of drumming, jamming in a rock band, or working as a sound tech can wreak havoc on your hearing. While medical hearing tests can check how well your ears compare to a specific standard, Tone Tester has the musician in mind and checks how well your ears can detect one pitch from another.

Many people don’t realize that when they play the note B flat, their right ear may detect B flat while their left ear identifies it as closer to B natural – a difference of up to one semitone! Click to read the rest…

Want to bring new life to your music? Effortlessly hear exactly what’s being played, and get the sounds in your head out into the world? Ear training is the key!

If you’re a studio engineer or a classically-trained musician, you almost certainly know a bit about ear training. But most people don’t know what ear training is – an incredibly useful technique to enhance the way you experience and understand music and sound!

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